


Balance

by waitineedaname



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Deep Conversations, Drugs, M/M, SKAM Fic Week, Shirley Temples, SkamFicWeek, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 09:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11848440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitineedaname/pseuds/waitineedaname
Summary: Jonas and Mikael are the best men and best friends to the newest and sappiest married couple in Oslo. And yet, they've barely spoken to each other. Why don't they change that?





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy fic week. Sorry for not doing yesterday's prompt! I was drawing a complete blank, and I probably won't do tomorrow's either. This fic, however, took over my brain and wouldn't let me rest until it was done. I hope you guys like Jonas/Mikael as much as I do bc hoo boy

“Isak, for the love of god, please get off of me.”

“Jonas-” Isak dragged the ‘o’ out far longer than he would normally, his breath smelling of expensive champagne. “Jonas, you’re my best friend. Have I told you that? You mean so much to me.”

“I kind of guessed as much when you made me your best man.”

“You’re the bestestest man. I love you.” Isak hugged him sloppily and Jonas grunted. “As a bro. A bro love.”

“I bro love you too, man. Now go find to your husband, okay?”

“My husband! Oh my god, I have a husband.”

“Yes you do, and he’s probably looking for you, so why don’t you go find him.” That was finally enough to get Isak to pull himself off of Jonas and stumble into the crowd. Jonas sighed in relief and heard a soft huff of laughter to his side. He looked over and found Mikael smiling crookedly, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

“He’s been enjoying his reception, huh?” Mikael asked, taking the seat next to Jonas. 

“Yeah,” Jonas snorted. “A bit too much.”

“Hey, I can’t blame him. The bartender is talented.” Mikael waved his cocktail a bit as if to demonstrate the bartender’s talents. Jonas’s eyes narrowed.

“Is… Is that a Shirley Temple?”

“Don’t you dare give me that look, this thing is delicious.” 

“Yeah, but it’s a Shirley Temple.”

“Shirley Temple was a talented child actress and a magnificent diplomat, and the drink named after her is as awesome as she was.” Mikael looked like he was trying to seem serious as he took a sip of his drink, but the yellow umbrella sticking out of the glass and the smile he was struggling to hide ruined the effect somewhat.

Jonas snorted softly. He liked Mikael. They didn’t know each other very well - only really seeing each other when both of their groups of friends got together - but he knew enough about him; he knew he was clever and something of a smartass from the snarky comments he’d heard him throw at friends, and that he was also kindhearted and fiercely loyal. He knew he and Even had been friends since they were little kids - longer than he and Isak had known each other, in fact - and he filmed and edited the films Even directed. He knew he was important enough to Even to be made best man, which made him important to Jonas by extension. Despite all that, however, this was the first conversation they’d held together just between the two of them.

“They’re really happy together, aren’t they.” Mikael said, nodding to where the newlyweds were holding each other like they were the only people in the crowded room. It wasn’t really a question, but Jonas nodded anyway.

“Yeah, they are. I’m glad they have each other.”

“You know, it’s weird,” Mikael leaned back in his seat, shaking his hair out of his face. Jonas was oddly mesmerized by the sight, then confused as to why that was, “I’ve known Even since we were really little. It’s weird seeing him like this and knowing he’s the same kid that was like this tall-” He held his hand a short distance above the floor. “-and tried to carry me home because I scraped my knee. Or the thirteen year old covered in acne that hit his growth spurt before everyone else. Or-” A sad look flickered in his eyes. “-the teenager I almost lost. And yet-” His smile returned in its softest form. “-here he is, dancing with his husband. To Gabrielle, what the fuck, who let him choose the playlist.” He added with a grimace upon realizing what was playing through the speakers.

Jonas watched him for a minute; the solemnity of what Mikael had just said was weighing on him, and he wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he needed to do something about it. “When I look at Isak, I see a six year old with hair down to his butt crying because the teacher moved our chairs away from each other. I see him when he was twelve and-” He couldn’t help but laugh a little as he said it. “-he had to wear these really horrible braces. And I see him-” He sobered up; Mikael had just bared his heart to him, even if it was just one sentence. He needed to return the favor. “-I see him having a panic attack because his dad just left and his mom is having a breakdown, and he didn’t feel ready to grow up so young.”

Mikael stared at him, his brown eyes wide and mystified. Jonas had to force himself not to squirm under his gaze. Slowly, a lopsided smile began to form on his face. “Come on,” He said, hopping to his feet, “Let’s go to the bar and I’ll buy you a Shirley Temple.”

\----

Jonas isn’t quite sure how it happened, but somehow he and Mikael had managed to migrate from the bar to the grassy field behind the hotel. They were both on their backs, suit jackets under their heads as pillows, and smoking. The weed soothed every tense muscle in Jonas’s body and he relaxed into the soft grass, comfortable next to Mikael’s warm presence. 

“You’re working in politics, right?” He could feel Mikael’s eyes on him, but he kept his own closed.

“Mhm.”

“What’s that like?”

“Exhausting.” Jonas sighed, opening his eyes to look up at the stars. “You’d think people would go into politics because they want to work for the people, but no. They’re just in it to be greedy.”

“You sound like a real humanitarian.” Jonas looked over at him, surprised, and found him gazing back intently, the slightest smile on his face. “You’re what we need in politics, honestly. That drive for helping people, not money.” 

“Yeah, well…” Jonas trailed off and shrugged. Maybe it was the booze still thrumming in his system, or the weed in his lungs, or the strange way Mikael was looking at him, but he couldn’t find the words he would have normally. Mikael broke the eye contact after a long moment, his smile suddenly a little shy, and he put out his joint in the wine glass they’d brought out.

“That just seems wrong.” Jonas commented, attempting to dispel the strange air around them. Mikael laughed a little.

“No, that’s like… an aesthetic. Like, symbolizing the contrast between rebellious teenagerhood and dignified adulthood. If the lighting was better, I’d probably take a picture of it. Post it with some esoteric quote. Get six million likes. Have it featured on Buzzfeed’s photos of the week - because it’s not quite sophisticated enough to be featured by Time or anything.” Mikael’s brow was furrowed in concentration as he spoke.

Jonas stared at him for a long minute, then burst into laughter. Just like that, the weird spell Mikael had set over them both was broken and he was laughing too, looking far too pleased with himself. “God, you’re worse than Even.” Jonas finally managed to say.

“I don’t know if that’s the best insult or the worst compliment.” Mikael giggled. “Wait- Well, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Jonas said, even though he wasn’t sure he did, “I know what you mean.”

Mikael’s laugh slowed and eventually tapered off into a soft smile. Everything about him was soft, Jonas was beginning to realize. His smiles, his voice, his laugh, his eyes, his hair. It was making him feel soft too. 

“Do you like filmmaking?” He asked. Something in him said there was another question he wanted to ask instead, but he couldn’t think of what it was.

“Yeah.” It was Mikael’s turn to face the stars. “I have so many ideas, you know? Like-” He paused and let a breath out into the air, trying to form his thoughts. “Like there are entire galaxies of stories hiding just out of sight, and I have to do my best to form them. Find the perfect shot for the glimpses into the galaxies I get in my mind’s eye, or edit it so smoothly that it actually feels like how it feels when I’m seeing the story as I fall asleep.” He spoke quietly, his voice hushed by wonder. His eyes were turned towards the sky, as if they were trying to find the stories amongst the constellations. Jonas thought if he looked hard enough, he might be able to see them hidden in Mikael’s eyes.

“It’s hard.” Mikael added after a few minutes of silence. “It’s really hard. It can be so frustrating, because sometimes the image I have is so vivid, but I just can’t get it right. But-” There was a peaceful smile at the quirk of his lips. “Every now and then, maybe one in a thousand shots, I’ll manage to get it perfectly, and it’s… it’s the best feeling. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s like… everything had been off kilter, and then with this one shot, I put it back in balance.”

Jonas was staring at him, but he didn’t think Mikael noticed; there was a dreamy look in his eyes, the moon reflecting onto his pupils.

Jonas could blame it on any number of things. The alcohol, the drugs, the night air. But then he’d be lying to himself. It was Mikael - all Mikael. Mikael’s soft smiles and low voice. It was his soft brown hair splayed out behind him like a halo, and the way he stared at the stars like every single one of them held a story. It was the way he spoke in holy reverence of his work - the way he seemed to genuinely love what he did.

Jonas sat up, leaned over him, and kiss Mikael flat on the lips.

Mikael didn’t respond for half a second, but that’s all it was: half a second. And then he was kissing back - slowly, languidly - and humming against Jonas’s lips. His long, slender fingers - artist’s fingers, Jonas thought - slid into his curls and held him there.

Lying there, on the grass outside his best friend’s wedding, kissing the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen, Jonas could feel the world turn on its axis. 

Under the stars, Jonas felt everything fall back into balance.


End file.
